ChatGPT ads are coming – and they won’t look like Google Ads
A new kind of advertising model built on trust, not manipulation
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says ads will likely appear in ChatGPT eventually—but not in the way Google does them. Rather than relying on search results that fail users, Altman envisions a model where ChatGPT earns commissions only when it delivers genuinely helpful recommendations that users act on.
Key takeaways
- Not like Google Ads: Altman criticized Google’s model, saying it profits when search results don’t deliver—forcing advertisers to pay for visibility.
- Trust over placement: OpenAI will avoid “pay-to-play” answers. If ChatGPT ranked a worse hotel above a better one because of money, Altman said, that would “catastrophically” damage user trust.
- Commerce through conversation: Altman imagines users asking for recommendations, seeing the best option, and completing purchases (like booking a hotel) in one click—where OpenAI earns a small, transparent commission.
- Ads as a side project: Altman doesn’t see advertising as OpenAI’s main revenue source and isn’t personally focused on developing the model right now.
- A future built on alignment: The goal is to make ChatGPT’s incentives align with user benefit—earning only when it provides genuine value rather than when it sells attention.
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